King
by Haesal
Summary: Rachel finds Chad sitting on a bench underneath a street light one winter evening. 274/362.


_Like always, I suck with giving titles._

 _This one was inspired by 'King' by Lauren Aquilina._

 _By the way, thank you for all those who read Dreaming of Falling! I was honestly a bit worried on that one since it turned out to be a bit more angst-y than I originally planned. So I was really happy with all the reviews, follows, and favorites it received._

 _The story is set at a slightly later time in the series, where Rachel is 13 years old and Chad is 14 verging on 15._

* * *

 _Rid of the monsters inside your head..._

 _Put all your faults to bed..._

 _You can be king again._

Chad Dickson slouched grumpily on a metal bench.

His face was centimeters away from the steaming cup in his hand, taking in the heat of the machine vended coffee whilst trying not to shiver in his light clothing during an early winter evening.

He took a small sip, wishing it would've cooled down by then enough not to burn his tongue, but the slightest touch of the creamy fluid on his lips was enough to convey to him that he wasn't quite in luck.

The blonde teen settled the cup beside him and reeled his head back in, cursing before coming to a calm and sighing defeatedly.

If he hadn't been so pigheaded then he wouldn't even be in that situation in the first place.

But he'd finally had enough on that day and decided to entertain his rebellious side for a change. After all, he'd always been the obedient and perfectly over-achieving son of the Dicksons. A little roughness on the edges wouldn't really hurt, now would it?

Like every other kid venturing in the stage of teenage hood, his world was expanding and so was his free-will and interests. So, when his parents yet again, shoved another supplementary lesson of _their_ liking down his throat, a part of him just came undone and he'd strongly shown his disapproval with their decision. Not only did they choose tap dance of all things for him to take up, they've even so _graciously_ conversed with his coach to temporarily relieve him from the team to give way for his tap dance lessons. Apparently, mastering the dance was a top priority of his at the moment since all the other children of his parents' acquaintances from high society were well-versed in such.

 _'As if coach would just agree to a dumb excuse like that.'_ His thoughts echoed in his head, begrudgingly understanding for himself that his career in football would end much earlier than he would've liked. With that mind, he'd stormed out of his house in Illinois clothed only in his football uniform and a navy-blue scarf. He'd only just arrived home from school and was greeted with the unpleasant news, and had no qualms with leaving yet again if it meant conveying to his parents through actions that he wasn't happy one bit.

After all, football served as his only distraction and haven from all the animosity in his system since becoming an undercover operative.

"I'm going to go insane from all of this..."

"Who says you weren't crazy from the start?"

The feminine voice laced with utter frankness was definitely familiar to him. He'd turned his head to the side to find Rachel T. Mckenzie clad in an oversized jacket, standing only a few meters away from where he was currently sitting.

The orange scarf which curled around her neck all the way to the tip of her nose nearly made her hard to identify especially with the dim street light, but he'd always recognize those clear hazel eyes unique only to her even from afar.

And Chad's face scrunched up in further annoyance. "What the hell are you doing here, you brat?"

"You look more like a brat to me with your nose redder than Rudolf's and oozing with snot."

He'd quickly tended to his runny nose, fetching a handkerchief from his pocket just in time before any drop could spill on his pants. All the while, Chad rambled with scattered excuses still attempting to maintain composure even with his face flushed from embarrassment.

Rachel only heaved a breath before walking towards the opposite metal bench, whose backrest leaned against another metal bench's where Chad was resting on.

"Geez, it's not like it's the end of the world if anyone sees you all uncool."

"Oh, shut up!" He retaliated in return while discreetly blowing his nose into the fabric. Silence subsequently settled upon the already quieted park and he was beginning to shift in his seat in utter discomfort. The blonde boy had no idea what ran through her mind, trying to make sense for himself if she actually just planned to sit there without so much as moving a muscle the entire night.

He'd been the first one to break the ice, certain he'd lose his bearings if another minute passed with her not even uttering a single word.

"...You didn't answer my question. I said, 'what the hell are you doing here?'."

"Just happened to be passing by."

"Lousy-ass reason."

"So, you mean to tell me that you freezing your butt off all alone here is a better reason?"

"Did you just stop by to pick a fight?" His teeth gritted together, almost snapping his head to her direction but stopping himself at the last minute. There was no way in hell he was falling for her snarky provocations.

"Sounds tempting, but you know that's not my thing." Her face then tilted upwards, only taking note in that instance that the sky was generous enough to beautifully ornament the darkened horizon with multitudes of stars.

"The stars are quite pretty in this area. Is that a good enough reason now for me to be here?"

"There's nothing pretty with those. Stars are just stars." Only then did she realize, that his own head of blonde locks had elevated upwards prior to her own, judging from the pressure against the back of her skull. Though, what defined the situation to her was the emptiness of his voice—something which she'd grown accustomed to over time as he exited his childhood and transitioned to adolescence.

"That's not what you used to say back then." Her face angled low, watching her hands wringing together on her lap; the very same hands Chad used to take in his own to freely run together on Moonbase when no one was looking just so he could take her to watch the stars with him.

And he heard her loud and clear, with her retort quite simple yet well understood in his ears.

At one point in his life, he wasn't this cynical mess of a boy who vehemently pushed people away that were important to him in a mislead effort to protect them from afar. But innocence was but a fleeting dream for child soldiers such as himself, and he'd traded the good things—his childhood filled with adventures and irreplaceable bonds he'd come to form in his reign as Supreme Leader, for what he thought was the greater good, which was becoming a double agent.

Even if it meant permanently straining his relationship with Rachel.

"Don't talk about the past. We're not even part of that organization anymore."

"Technically, we still are." Rachel stated flatly, referring to her own status as an undercover agent albeit not under the guise of a traitor like himself.

"They'll never see us as one of them." His voice flowed out in a snarl, and she'd pivoted her head to his direction. His expression was hidden to her but she could see his emotions in full clarity.

Regret and longing seemed to be indefinite tenants in the hearts of broken people such as themselves. The TND was a hidden special branch in the KND, and true enough they were classified more as spies than full-pledged operatives. Their younger counterparts would none be the wiser, with her merely serving as a shadow of the former Supreme Leader and him as a dirty traitor in their eyes.

This time, she offered no reply other than her silence to allow the both of them to just _feel_.

"I wonder, would it have been better if I never knew the KND existed in the first place? I probably wouldn't be such a messed-up teenager now. Might be enjoying my youth the way other kids my age does."

"Nigel would be one upping you and taking over your successes then."

He could feel the entirety of his blood boiling in his skin and sizzling out the cold from just the sound of her voice mentioning _his_ name. Chad slammed his fist on the seat, sloshing away some of the contents of the coffee left forgotten and chilled to the snow on the ground.

"Uno will never even get near to my level. I'm still the best there is."

His pale lips then curved in a sinister grin, as he rotated his head ever so slightly in a half-hearted effort to regard her.

"I bet _you_ would've wished I'd never been in the KND 'cause I'm unneeded. You think Uno could've done even better than me, huh? "

"No, far from it." His face was painted into a picture of confusion, having the gleam of the street light blocked from the view of the path ahead of him, and he'd raised his head upwards where he surmised the blockage had come from.

Her face was inches away from his, having to have been brought closer by his succeeding action. Golden strands of hair curtaining the sides of her face fell loose from peering down to his direction and draped over the sides of his own. Rachel had propped herself on her knees, disregarding the icy sensation of the cooled metal on her stocking covered legs. The scarf snugged around her neck dropped lower and he could clearly make out the details of her face. Her hands were hooked on the backrest and she'd smiled at him in pure sincerity and fondness.

"If you've never been in the KND, then I never would've met you and I wouldn't be the person that I am now. I'm glad I came to know you, Chad."

Blue eyes widened in shock, and he'd found himself coming to a standstill as the dangling end of her scarf cushioned the back of his head. The only thing apparent to him at that moment, was the sudden rapidness of his heart beat and her body so close that he could smell the scent of her perfume.

"T-Too close..." He'd managed to mutter in a hushed tone as his face gradually began to ignite. Her own cheeks reddened in return, coming to an awareness of the intimacy of their position and her eyes gaped back at his.

"You're too close, damn it!" Chad had finally been brought back to Earth and abruptly shoved his head back down, hitting her on the nose and causing Rachel to roughly pull back in pain.

"What was that for, you idiot!"

"It's your fault for invading my personal space!"

"I did not! You were the one who moved closer after I did."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

The park, nearly devoid of people was filled with their voices, echoing resoundingly yet comfortingly in their ears.

* * *

She'd walked away not too long after, advising him to return home soon before the snow could thicken. Chad watched her as she departed, stuffing his hands in the pockets of her winter coat which she'd lent to him under the excuse that she didn't live too far and he needed it more than she did.

His blue eyes were then half-lidded before finally closing and taking in the warmth of the article of clothing.

She hadn't needed to tell him that. He knew.

He's protected her from afar for so long well enough to know something as simple as that.

* * *

Rachel watched her snow boots creating dents on light patches of snow. It wasn't long now until she was in the warmth of her own home, and she'd whipped out her mobile phone from her skirt pocket to make a call.

The receiving line immediately responded, filled with the voice of a worried middle-aged woman.

"Rachel, have you found him? We've searched everywhere! He's not with his team nor is he in school either." Mrs. Dickson frantically narrated to her their own troubles with locating their son.

"I did. Don't worry a thing now, ma'am. He said he'll be home soon."

Mrs. Dickson paused, quite astonished that she'd found him so easily while all their efforts hadn't yielded a single lead.

"How did you know where he was? I'm surprised it didn't take you too long."

Her features then arranged themselves into a blank expression on her face, not exactly certain for herself how she did.

"Who knows? I guess, I was just fortunate. What's important is he'll be home in a bit. Just relaxing for a little longer in the neighborhood park."

"I see then, that's good. I never would've thought he'd be there of all places. We've already talked again to his coach about his tap dance lessons and decided to postpone it so he could remain on the team. I guess my baby valued football so much and was too upset with leaving."

She couldn't help but lightly giggle to herself, finding it quite adorable for a towering and self-reliant boy such as Chad to be referred to so affectionately by his mother.

"He'll be happy with that for sure."

"I sure hope so. Anyway, I'm sorry for the trouble this caused you. You must be rather busy with the Student Council and all and I still asked for this favor. But, I do remember that you used to be so close with Chad when you were young kids. If there's anyone that could help us, then I was sure it would be you."

Rachel was mildly taken aback, overwhelmed by his mother's level of trust in her.

"It wasn't really much of a trouble. I'm glad I could help out. I'm not too close with Chad now but, I'm happy he still had the heart to entertain me."

"That boy I swear, doesn't ever know how to express his feelings." Her brows knitted together, not quite following whatever Mrs. Dickson had meant.

"I know, why don't you come over tomorrow for dinner? Chad usually comes home early on Wednesdays since he doesn't have football practice and his shift in his part-time job changed. Catching up for a bit wouldn't be so bad, now would it?"

She contemplated to herself for a while, and briefly remembered the look on his face earlier that evening when she'd ducked down from the metal bench to speak to him.

In all honesty, she wasn't so sure why she'd done that. But seeing his usual blue eyes devoid of youth and color glimmering so vibrantly was worth the instantaneous action.

A hint of a blush crept on her cheeks and over to the bridge of her nose and she'd softly smiled to herself.

"Sure, ma'am. I'd be happy to come over."


End file.
